Rose Black and the Murderer
by F0Z
Summary: A thirteen-year-old orphan finds out she is a witch and her world is drastically changed. The world of Harry and Hogwarts from a whole new perspective! A parallel to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Please read and review!
1. The Wand

**The Wand**

**A thirteen-year-old girl** with long, blonde hair lay awake in a small, dusty bedroom in a very old house. She was holding a thin, black wand and examining it in the scarce, early morning light that filtered in through the shuttered window.

She recalled, in her mind, the day she had found the wand, lying on the floor in the front hall of this very house.

That day had been a most peculiar day for her. She had woken up in her small bed in the orphanage to find the mistress whispering for her to get up quickly, that there was someone there to see her. It had been dark outside when she looked out the window as she was herded downstairs to find a young man there who had introduced himself as Remus Lupin. He had informed her that he was her godfather, and then he took her with him. She had gone willingly, knowing that wherever this strange man was taking her would be far better than that musty orphanage. The two of them had travelled all day, finally ending up in this place, where she had found the wand.

Then the man, Remus, had told her who she was, the daughter of Sirius Black, and of the day her mother, Bethany, died giving birth to her. That was a year ago.

As she traced the carving of the dog on the handle of her wand, she remembered picking up the wand, the sparks it had given off, and the way Remus had stared at her.

This wand had been Sirius's.

The girl set the wand on the bedside table and picked up, instead, the photo of her mother, waving and smiling at the camera. Remus had given her this. She remembered how she had stared at it, awed by the fact the picture was moving.

A noise startled her and she looked up to see Remus in the doorway. He acknowledged the picture in her hands.

"Ah yes, Bethany Black was quite beautiful, wasn't she?" He cleared his throat, staring fixedly at the wall for a moment, then his eyes flicked back to the girl, now sitting up. "Come on, Rose, we need to leave in a couple minutes to catch the train. Everything packed?" He eyed her trunk lying open on the floor.

"Yes I have everything," Rose replied, jumping to her feet and pulling a pair of jeans and a shirt out of her trunk.

"Okay, well hurry up and get dressed, I'll help you with your trunk on the stairs." He left and Rose quickly dressed, stuffing her wand into her back pocket and tossing any remaining items on top of her neatly folded cloaks and stacked schoolbooks.

She met Remus on the landing with her trunk. A flick of his wand and the trunk was floating at shoulder height.

Rose smiled, amused, as he guided it down the stairs and then followed him, careful to avoid trodding on his patched and frayed cloak that flapped behind him as he walked.

His gait was more tired today and he limped slightly. Rose was aware that this was because he had been out all night in wolf form as it had been a full moon.

A taxi awaited them outside the house.

Rose started to help load her trunk then stopped, suddenly remembering,

"Oh! I forgot my owl. I'll be right out."

She sprinted back into the house and grabbed Spade's cage from the kitchen.

The shiny black owl, Spade, nipped Rose's fingers affectionately through the bars as she hurtled through the house and back out to the street where she jumped into the back of the taxi and they were off.


	2. Chocolate

**Chocolate**

**Remus and Rose** hustled through King's Cross Station, Remus leading the way through the crowd of _muggles_ as he had called them, explaining that muggles was a term for non-magical people.

"Here's station nine," Remus spoke, "and . . . aha! The entrance to station nine and three-quarters!"

They were standing in front of a brick pillar. Rose glanced at Remus skeptically.

"So here we go, right through here," Remus beckoned to Rose and she stepped forward cautiously. He suddenly pushed her – straight through the pillar.

Rose found herself in a station looking almost exactly like the one they had just left but with a red train labeled "Hogwarts Express" in gold letters on the side.

"Wicked," Rose breathed just as Remus appeared next to her.

"Well, come on then!" He started to walk toward the train, one hand on Rose's shoulder, "We'd best grab seats—the other students will be here soon."

They picked a compartment and, after loading their luggage onto the shelf overhead, sat down to wait for the rest of the passengers.

"I'm going to walk around for a bit," said Rose, getting to her feet.

"Great, I think I'll get some rest," Remus replied.

Rose slowly walked down the train, counting the compartments she passed. When she got to the end, she peered out the window as students started pouring into the station. She watched them get on the train and pick out compartments with their friends.

Soon, the whistle blew and so Rose started to hurry back to her compartment. The train started to move.

She reached the compartment as the train gathered speed. There were three students sitting inside, talking in hushed voices. She pulled open the door and stepped in. They abruptly stopped talking.

"Hi," she addressed the three students, stepping over their legs and sitting down across from Remus who appeared to be fast asleep.

"You know him?" said the red-haired boy, cocking his head towards Remus.

"Yes," Rose replied, "He's my godfather. He'll be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Looks like Snape's dream job is stolen yet again," the boy said to the bushy-haired girl and the black-haired boy wearing glasses. The girl ignored him and turned to Rose.

"My name's Hermione Granger," she said, "and this is Ron Weasley," she indicated to red-haired boy, "and that's-"

"Harry Potter," the dark-haired boy finished for her.

"Rose Black," Rose introduced herself, "This is my first year at Hogwarts, though I'll be starting as a third-year."

"Oh, well we're third-years," Hermione said, looking at Rose skeptically, "Have you learned everything from the first two years?"

"Not everything," Rose admitted, "I've read through the textbooks and practiced with my wand-" Hermione glanced at her curiously, "—I got permission from the ministry of magic."

"Bloody hell, you get to use magic outside of school?" It was Ron who spoke.

"Not anymore," Rose said exasperatedly, "Besides, even then I could only practice under Remus—I mean, Professor Lupin's supervision."

"Oh."

Rose spotted a folded newspaper partly hidden by Ron's leg. She noticed that the photo on the front page was moving, just like the picture of her mother she had at home. The newspaper, however, showed a wild-looking man wearing ragged prisoner robes who appeared to be yelling.

"Who's that?" Rose asked Ron.

"That?" he inquired, picking up the paper, "You don't know who he is? Why, that's just about the most feared man in London right now, that is. He's a murderer, escaped from Azkaban. No one's ever escaped from Azkaban before," he added, reading the look on Rose's face. His next words chilled her right to the bone: "That's Sirius Black."

"Sirius Black?" she repeated, feeling numb.

"That's right."

"What's that noise?" said Hermione, suddenly. A faint, tinny sort of whistle was coming from somewhere. Rose was glad that no one was paying attention to her anymore as they searched the compartment.

"It's coming from that trunk," Rose realized.

"That's Harry's," said Ron, a moment later, he had pulled a small, spinning object that was glowing brilliantly out of the luggage rack.

"What's that?" Rose asked at the same time Hermione asked, "Is that a _Sneakoscope_?"

"Yep, a Sneakoscope detects untrustworthy people, though this is a very cheap one, it went haywire just as I was tying it to Errol's leg to send to Harry," Ron answered.

` "Stick it back in the trunk," Harry advised, "It'll wake him up." He nodded towards Remus. Ron stuffed the Sneakoscope back into the trunk, burying it far down to deaden the noise.

"We could get it checked in Hogsmeade," said Ron, sitting back down.

"Oh! That reminds me, I still have to get my permission form signed by R— Professor Lupin," Rose glanced at Remus, who snored slightly, "I'll ask him later," she decided.

"Lucky you," said Harry, "I couldn't get my, erm, guardians to sign it at all."

"What!—you're not allowed to come?" Ron looked horrified. "But—one of the teachers will surely give you permission—McGonagall or someone."

Harry snorted.

"We can ask Fred and George, they know every secret passageway out of the castle—"

"Ron!" Hermione said sharply, "I don't think Harry should be sneaking out of the school with Black on the loose…"

"Why would he be here, though?" Rose wondered.

Suddenly, the three of them looked uncomfortable.

"Well, Sirius Black is after Harry…to kill him," Hermione said finally.

"No way…" said Rose before she could think about what she was saying. The other three did not seem to notice, however.

"Well, he's already murdered a whole bunch of people—using one curse I might add—so why shouldn't he murder Harry?"

"Why does he want to murder Harry?" Rose asked curiously.

"Can we please stop talking about me being murdered?" Harry blurted.

"Sorry," Ron and Rose said at the same time.

Just then, there was a knock on the door and a girl with very light blonde hair entered.

"Oh, hi Luna," Hermione greeted her.

"Hi," Luna answered in a light voice. She noticed Rose sitting in the back corner, "Are you new?" she wondered.

"Yes," Hermione replied for Rose, "This is Rose . . . what did you say your last name was again?"

"Black," Rose said, "Rose Black."

"Oh . . . I'm Luna Lovegood. You should probably change into your cloaks, all of you, we're nearly there." With that, Luna walked off dreamily.

"Let's go," Hermione said, getting up. Suddenly, the train jerked to a stop, sending Hermione sprawling onto Rose's lap.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" she said, struggling to stand back up.

"No, it's fine, really," Rose assured her, helping her up, "Why'd the train stop, we can't be there yet?"

Then the lights went out, plunging them into darkness.

"What's going on?" Ron choked.

"Ouch!" gasped Hermione, "Ron—that was my foot!"

"Do you think we've broken down?" Rose wondered.

"Dunno . . ." came Harry's reply.

Ron leaned over Rose to wipe a patch clean on the window and peered out.

"There's something moving out there," he said, "I think people are coming aboard . . ."

There was indeed something moving outside, Rose could just make out a dark shape through the window . . .

The compartment door swung open and there was a noise as someone fell through it.

"Sorry—do you know what's going on? Ouch—sorry."

"Hello Neville," Harry's voice answered.

"Harry? Is that you? What's happening?"

"No idea. Sit down."

"I'm going to go and ask the driver what's going on," Hermione said. Rose listened as the door slid open. Then there was a thud and two squeals.

"Who's that?"

"Who's _that_?"

"Ginny?"

"Hermione?"

Suddenly, Rose heard movement where Remus was sitting.

"Quiet!" he said. Everyone immediately quieted. Rose heard him mutter a spell and a flickering light filled the compartment. He appeared to be holding a handful of flames.

"Stay where you are," he spoke again, winking reassuringly at Rose. He got to his feet carefully.

But the door slid open before he could reach it.

Standing in the doorway, illuminated by the flames Remus held, was a cloaked figure that towered to the ceiling. Rose's eyes shut out of fear, but then she wrenched them open again. She reached for her wand, trying desperately to clear her head. It was so cold . . . she heard a howl, then a yelp of pain. _No_, she thought, _No Remus, don't be hurt, please_. Then she forced herself to focus on the scene in front of her. Harry was on the floor, eyes closed, as if he had blacked out, but under his eyelids, his eyes were moving.

Then Remus was stepping over Harry and pulling out his wand.

"None of us are hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks. Go," he said. The shrouded figure—a dementor, Rose realized—showed no sign of moving. Remus whispered a spell and something silver shot out of his wand at the dementor, which glided away eerily.

Then the lights came back on and the train began to move again. Rose sat for a moment, shaking, as Ron and Hermione tried to get Harry to wake up. Remus sat next to her and wrapped his arm around her as they watched Harry come to his senses.

"Could you grab me the bar of chocolate from my trunk?" Remus asked Rose. She stood up on the seat to reach inside his trunk and grab the gigantic chocolate bar and handed it to Remus who broke it into good-sized pieces. He handed the largest to Harry and then doled out the rest. Rose saw that she had been given an especially large piece also. She bit into hers, feeling the warmth pass through her.

"What was that thing?" Harry asked Remus.

"A dementor. One of the dementors of Azkaban."

Everyone stared at him.

"Eat," he repeated. "It'll help. I need to speak to the driver, excuse me . . ."

He brushed past and disappeared into the corridor.

Rose looked around at everyone, talking, holding their untouched chocolate.

"He hasn't poisoned it you know. The chocolate," Rose interrupted. They each took bites of chocolate and Rose could see how much more relaxed they were after eating it.

Then Remus had come back.

"We'll be at Hogwarts in ten minutes," he informed them.

No one talked much during the remainder of the journey. At long last, the train stopped and there was a great scramble to get outside.

Remus and Rose wove through the crowd toward the carriages that were to take them into Hogwarts.

"Firs' years this way!" called a voice. Rose turned to find a giant of a man. He looked at least eight feet tall.

Then Remus was rushing her onward toward an open carriage.

The ride up to the castle went smoothly until they reached a pair of immense wrought iron gates and Rose spotted two dementors hovering above. She immediately felt sick and turned away, finding Remus' eyes in the darkness of the carriage's interior. He looked at her curiously for a moment, but didn't say anything. The carriage swayed to a halt at last, and Rose and Remus stepped out.

The three students Rose had met in the carriage stood on the steps, which were blocked by a white-blonde-haired boy and two other tough-looking boys. All three were smirking maliciously.

"Shove off, Malfoy," Ron was saying.

"Did you faint as well, Weasley?" Malfoy said loudly, "Did the scary old dementor frighten you, too, Weasley?"

"Is there a problem?" Remus had stepped ahead of Rose onto the stone steps nearer to the six students.

"Oh no, er, _professor_," sneered Malfoy sarcastically before turning and leading the way up to the castle.

Rose had just walked through the huge front doors when she heard someone call her name. A tall, black-haired witch wearing emerald-green robes was coming towards her. The witch held an old, faded and torn wizard's hat. The two students—Harry and Hermione—from the train were with her.

"I think we'll sort you now, before the sorting so that you won't have to stand up there with the first years. Come along, quickly, to my office. I'm Professor McGonagall, by the way."

Remus waved curtly back to Rose as he headed toward the door into the Great Hall. Rose, Harry, and Hermione followed Professor McGonagall up a marble staircase and through a short corridor. They entered the small office and sat down in the three chairs in front of the desk. Professor McGonagall settled herself behind her desk.

"Professor Lupin sent an owl ahead to say that you were taken ill on the train, Potter."

Rose peered around at Harry, whose face was reddening. There was a soft knock on the door and a plump nurse came bustling in.

"I'm fine," Harry said, "I don't need anything-"

"Oh, it's you, is it?" said the nurse, ignoring Harry's protest and bent to look closely at him. "I suppose you've been doing something dangerous again?"

"It was a dementor, Poppy," said Professor McGonagall.

The two adults exchanged a dark look.

"Setting dementors around a school," the nurse muttered, feeling Harry's forhead. "He won't be the last one who collapses. Yes, he's all clammy. Terrible things, they are, and the effect they have on people who are already delicate—"

Rose pondered the nurse's words.

"I'm not delicate!" Harry blurted crossly.

"Of course you're not," the nurse replied to him, absentmindedly.

"What does he need?" Professor McGonagall started crisply. "Bed rest? Should he perhaps spend tonight in the hospital wing?"

"I'm fine!" Harry jumped to his feet.

"Well he should have some chocolate, at the very least."

"I've already had some," said Harry. "Professor Lupin gave me some. He gave it to all of us."

"Did he, now?" said the nurse approvingly. "So we've finally got a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher who knows his remedies?"

Rose smiled proudly.

"Are you sure you're all right Potter?" Professor McGonagall asked sharply.

"_Yes_," Harry replied.

"Well then," Professor McGonagall sighed, "Now, Rose."

Rose straightened up.

"I'm going to put this sorting hat on you," Professor McGonagall lifted a patched pointed hat off her desk. "It will decide what house to put you in."

Rose nodded, not really understanding. Hermione squirmed excitedly beside her. The Professor placed the hat on her. Suddenly, she heard a voice inside her head.

_Hmm. Clever. Yes, very bright indeed. Ravenclaw perhaps? But no, she could be great, this witch. Slytherin? After all, she is a Black . . . but she has such bravery. And the things in her future . . . yes. Gryffindor it is then—_

"GRYFFINDOR," the hat roared aloud. Hermione cheered, "That's the house I'm in!"

Harry also clapped and Professor McGonagall looked pleased.

"I'm the head of Gryffindor house," she explained to Rose. "It will be great to have you. You and Harry may go to the Great Hall, now. I'm sure you'll get a warm welcome from Gryffindor table."

Harry and Rose hurried down the eerily empty corridor and down the stone steps to the Great Hall.

As they entered, Rose glanced up to see the night sky above them. She recalled from _A Hogwarts History, _atextbook she had been assigned to read over the summer, that the ceiling had been bewitched to display the sky outdoors. Rose started to follow Harry who was heading toward an open spot next to Ron, but then a brown-haired girl caught her eye and waved to her, gesturing toward an open seat beside her.

"Hi! I'm Dae Floweake. You must be the new third-year. What's your name?"

"Rose Black," Rose replied. "You are also a third-year, then?"

"Yep. Your last name's Black, you said? You're not related to _Sirius _Black, are you?"

The headmaster standing up to speak rescued Rose.

"Welcome!" Professor Dumbledore proclaimed.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and as one of them is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast.

"As you will all be aware after their search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing host to some of the dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business.

"They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds, and while they are with us, I must make it plain that nobody is to leave school without permission. Dementors are not to be fooled by tricks and disguises—or even Invisibility Cloaks," Rose wondered how many students had Invisibility Cloaks. That would be useful to know. Dumbledore continued, "It is not in the nature of dementors to understand pleading or excuses. I therefore warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. I look to the prefects, and our new Head Boy and Girl, to make sure that no student runs afoul of the dementors."

Dumbledore paused and looked seriously around the hall. No one made a sound.

"On a happier note, I am pleased to welcome two new teachers as well as a new student.

First, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

Rose clapped hard and was pleased to see Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the others from their compartment on the train also clapping enthusiastically.

"As to our second new appointment," Dumbledore continued, "Well, I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs. However I am delighted to say that his place will be filled by none other than Rubeus Hagrid, who has agreed to take on this teaching job in addition to his gamekeeping duties."

Rose looked along the professors' table at the front of the Hall, wondering which Professor Hagrid was. Her eyes alighted on the giant she had seen before leading the first years across the lake in boats to the school. His face that was not covered by his tangled black beard was bright red and he stared down at enormous hands.

"And finally, we have a new third-year joining Gryffindor. I would like to welcome Rose Black."

Gryffindor house cheered deafeningly and the students around Rose congratulated her loudly. Then the applause died down and Dumbledore spoke again.

"Well, I think that's everything of importance. Let the feast begin!"

The golden plates and goblets before them filled suddenly with food and drink. Rose dug in to the delicious meal as Dae joined in conversation with others.

At long last, the last morsels of pumpkin tart had melted from the golden platters and Dumbledore gave the word that it was time for them all to go to bed. Dae and Rose walked with the other Gryffindors up the marble staircase and conjugated in front of a large portrait of a fat lady in a pink dress.

"Password?" the fat lady squeaked.

"Coming through, coming through!" A red-haired boy wearing a Head Boy badge called as he wove his way through the crowd. "The new password's 'Fortuna Major'!"

The portrait swung open and the students filed through into the Gryffindor common room. Dae steered Rose up the left staircase to the third-year girls' dormitory.

Rose fell fast asleep soon after settling into her warm bed.


	3. The Black Dog

**The Black Dog**

**The next morning**, Rose and Dae went down to breakfast where they received their class schedules.

"Divination first," Dae said, glancing down at her schedule. "That'll be up at the top of North Tower."

"Hey Dae? Who's that girl over there?" Rose asked, indicating the Slytherin table.

A small, black-haired girl sat by herself. Dae glanced at her.

"Ah, that's Professor Snape's daughter. Sadie, I think. She's a second-year," Dae went back to reading her copy of _The Daily Prophet_.

"Hmm," Rose took one last glance at the solitary girl and then scooted over to look over Dae's shoulder at her newspaper.

A clock somewhere chimed and students all around them started to gather up their things and make their way to their first classes.

"C'mon. We'll have to run to make it to Divination on time," said Dae, jumping to her feet.

Rose followed her out. They broke into a run when they had cleared the doors, scrambling up the steps toward the North Tower.

"Let's see. This way I think," Dae turned left on a landing toward another staircase.

After five minutes and several staircases, the girls reached a landing where the three students from the train were standing, looking at a painting of a knight and a gray pony.

As they approached, Rose saw that they were talking to the knight.

"Listen," Harry was saying, "we're looking for the North tower. You don't know the way, do you?"

"A quest!" the knight shouted, "Come follow me, dear friends, and we shall find our goal, or else shall perish bravely in the charge!"

Rose and Dae glanced at each other and then took off after the trio ahead of them who were already racing to keep up with the exuberant knight.

They climbed a spiral staircase that seemed never to end. At last, panting and dizzy, they stumbled onto a tiny landing where Harry, Ron, and Hermione were already ascending a ladder leading up into a circular hole in the ceiling.

"Interesting," Rose commented, stepping toward the ladder and beginning the short climb.

They emerged in a classroom like no other Rose or Dae had ever seen. Twenty tables were crammed inside the tight, dimly lit space. It was stiflingly warm and the five students joined the rest of the class who were grouped in the center, talking in whispers.

A voice came out of the shadows, soft and misty. It belonged to a frizzy-haired, skeletal lady with large glasses that magnified her eyes, giving her an insect-like appearance.

"Welcome," she said, "How nice to see you in the physical world at last."

Rose shivered.

"Sit, my children, sit," the teacher instructed them.

Dae and Rose scrambled awkwardly into armchairs seated around the same table as the professor continued.

"Welcome to Divination. My name is Professor Trelawny. You may not have seen me before. I find that descending too often into the hustle and bustle of the main school clouds my Inner Eye."

The room was silent. Professor Trelawny paused to rearrange her shawl and then continued, "So you have chosen to study Divination, the most difficult of all magical arts. I must warn you at the outset that if you do not have the Sight, there is very little I will be able to teach you. Books can only take you so far in this field…

"Many witches and wizards, talented though they are in the area of loud bangs and smells and sudden disappearing, are yet unable to penetrate the veiled mysteries of the future. It is a gift granted to few. You, boy," she said suddenly to Neville, who Rose had met on the train. "Is your grandmother well?"

"I think so," stammered Neville.

"I wouldn't be so sure if I were you, dear."

Neville gulped. Professor Trelawny continued. "We will be covering the basic methods of Divination this year. The first term will be devoted to reading the tea leaves. Next term we shall progress to palmistry.

"In the second term, we shall move to the crystal ball—if we have finished with our fire omens, that is. Unfortunately, classes will be disrupted in February by a nasty bout of flu. I myself will lose my voice. And around Easter, one of our number will leave us forever."

Professor Trelawny seemed to take no notice of the stunned silence that followed this prediction.

"I wonder, dear," she said to the girl nearest her, "if you could pass me the largest silver teapot?"

Lavender stood up to take an enormous teapot from the shelf and set it down in front of Professor Trelawny.

"Thank you, my dear. Incidentally, that thing you are dreading—it will happen on Friday the sixteenth of October.

Lavender shivered.

"Now, I want you all to divide into pairs. Collect a teacup from the shelf, come to me, and I will fill it. Then sit down and drink until only the dregs remain. Swill these around the cup three times with the left hand, then turn the cup upside down on its saucer, wait for the last of the tea to drain away, then give your cup to your partner to read. You will interpret the patterns using pages five and six of _Unfogging the Future_. I shall move among you, helping and instructing. Oh, and dear"—she took Neville's arm as he started to stand up—"after you've broken your first cup, would you be so kind as to select one of the blue patterned ones? I'm rather attached to the pink."

Rose went with the other students to the shelf of teacups. A few moments later, a tinkle of breaking china was heard and Professor Trelawny swept over to Neville holding a dustpan and brush, "One of the blue ones, then, dear, if you wouldn't mind…thank you…"

Once Rose and Dae had their teacups filled, they retreated to their table and sipped at the scalding hot tea. Rose swilled around the dregs in hers, feeling foolish, and Dae and her swapped their cups.

Rose flipped open her book and peered into Dae's teacup. "Ummm, I think you've got a leaf-shaped blob there… ah, it could be a maple leaf, meaning you're going to 'find peace and quiet in nature'…" Rose glanced at her friend, who appeared to be stifling laughter, "That doesn't sound very much like you. Well, there's a hand here. That means that someone you're not expecting will lend you some help…"

Dae yawned. "Let me try." She glanced at Rose's cup. "Let's see… there's sort of a cat here—" She consulted _Unfogging the Future_. "That means you'll find that you have a lot of wisdom… this looks like a—"

A snort of laughter came from behind Dae and both girls turned to watch as Professor Trelawny swept over and snatched Harry's cup from Ron.

She slowly rotated the cup counterclockwise, staring into it.

"The falcon…my dear, you have a deadly enemy."

"But everyone knows _that_," Hermione whispered loudly. Professor Trelawny turned to stare at her.

"Well, they do," continued Hermione, "Everybody knows about Harry and You-Know-Who."

Professor Trelawny seemed to choose not to reply. Looking back down into Harry's cup, she began again.

"The club…an attack. Dear, dear, this is not a happy cup…."

"I thought that was a bowler hat," muttered Ron sheepishly.

"The skull…danger in your path my dear…."

Professor Trelawny gave to cup a final turn, then gasped and screamed. She sank into a vacant armchair, eyes closed.

"My dear boy…my poor, dear boy…no…it's kinder not to say…don't ask me…"

"What is it, Professor?" a voice piped up instantly. Everyone was crowding around Professor Trelawny's chair to look at Harry's cup.

"My dear," Professor Trelawny said dramatically, sitting up, "you have the Grim."

"The what?" said Harry, looking around to see if anyone knew what she was talking about. Nearly everyone was looking shocked, including Dae. Rose cocked an eyebrow at her.

"The Grim, my dear, the Grim!" Professor Trelawny repeated, "The giant, spectral dog that haunts churchyards! My dear boy, it is an omen—the worst omen—of _death_!"

Dae pulled at Rose's sleeve and motioned to the textbook opened in front of her. Rose glanced down and saw a symbol of a black dog in among the rest of the signs. It looked oddly familiar. Very familiar. Rose pulled out her wand. Dae jumped and gave her a confused look, but Rose merely set it on the table and stared at the design on the handle: the carving of the black dog. Dae took the wand from her and glanced at it. Shrugging, she handed the wand back and Rose shoved it back in her robe pocket. Rose turned back to the scene by Harry and Ron's table.  
>Professor Trelawny was speaking to Hermione, now, with a look of dislike plainly in her expression.<p>

"You'll forgive me for saying so, my dear, but I perceive very little aura around you. Very little receptivity to the resonances of the future."

One boy was squinting his eyes and looking at the cup from different angles.

"It looks like a Grim if you do this," he said, his eyes squeezed nearly shut, "but it looks more like a donkey from here," he moved to the left a little ways and tilted his head.

"When you've all finished deciding when I'm going to die or not!" Harry said angrily, surprising the room to silence.

"I think we'll leave the lesson here for today," Professor Trelawny said vaguely. "Please pack away your things."

Rose and Dae put their books back in their bags along with the rest of the still silent classroom, then headed for the ladder.

"Until we meet again," Professor Trelawny said faintly, "fair fortune be yours. Oh and dear," –she pointed toward Neville—"you'll be late next time, so mind you work extra hard to catch up."

Rose descended the ladder after Dae and then continued down the winding staircase. They parted ways at the bottom, Rose to head off to her Arithmancy class and Dae to go to Transfiguration with the other third-year Griffindors.


End file.
